Crashing Waves
by corkchop
Summary: After having a dream, or perhaps, a nightmare, you usually have the oddest sensation of being caught in the dream's personal universe for a few more moments, caught by a thread of not recalling where you are. It is said to be a relief to realize you are in a safe room, nearby loved ones. But, what would happen if you wake up to even deadlier reality?


_Crashing Dream_

**A/N: Enjoy, my friends! :)**

The bright full moon was perched high in the star-dotted night sky, basking the scenery in a glistening coat of silver moonlight. Droplets of crystal-clear rainfall pattered out into the churning ocean, forming pools of ripples. The chilly midnight sky carried the salty scent of bracken dried on the tide line dappled with exotic shells and conches. A dark wave holding passenger legions of sea life crashed onto the shore, humming it`s powerful song.

Shepherd "Shep" Trent stood stock-still on the beach. And he was petrified. Not the sort that happens when Medusa lands her gaze on you - he was downright terrified.

As the wave receded, also leaving behind seaweed in its wake, it revealed a figure. Except it was not of humanity anymore, perhaps once of similar origins. The salt water around formed a rapidly spinning whirlpool, but it was supporting the creature`s weight, not vice versa. The stormy heavens turned to an obsidian black decorated with flames flickering, not the dark soot shade of the sky before. Then the monster peered down from his stand, gazing intensely at Shepard.

The he smiled. It was not a pleasant smile; it was as cold and calculating as his beady beetle black eyes. The teeth were daggers stained crimson like a fresh kill happened before. His grotesque scaled body was jay blue and tinged green, smeared with a noxious rank transparent black slime. He waved his arm, in morbid greeting.

"I knew I would find you here, my dear cousin," he purred, sounding like a scuba diver's voice filtering through his mask. "Do you recognize me? It`s just me, your little brother who was forgotten along with the ocean you discovered. Forgotten like a sandcastle forged by a child`s crude hands and washed away. Forever forgotten. I knew I would find you here. You never came to my funeral. You never cared."  
Shep sputtered, "My family is dead! I am the last Trent to ever live on earth!"

"It's me, little Artie." Arthur cooed, "Do not try to remain innocent, we all know what you have done."  
"I have done nothing to anyone!" Shepherd said screaming the words. He backed up slowly, and then found himself pressed against a colossal boulder of limestone. Tracing his fingers over the grainy rock, memories flashed back recalled for the first time in thirty years.

A makeshift slide crafted of various household objects. A motherly scolding tone that seemed more amused than harsh. A young boy`s burst of carefree laugher soon followed by another deeper chuckle. Staggering as if the weight of the sky was placed upon his quivering shoulders, he realized the truth. He recognized that laugh. He knew that laugh. He once lived with that laugh. He brought on that laugh. That certain childish laugh belonged to a little boy, his brother.

Arthur Trent.

But he was dead. Dead for the past fifteen years, but now he was seeking revenge, for one thing in particular, issued from a certain person.

"You know exactly what you have done." Arthur said, slowly coming nearer, "What do these words mean to you, and don`t lie, Artie here does not like a dirty little liar! Your pants might get set on fire, or drowned, as my specialty goes! Clue Hunt. Gideon Cahill`s master serum."

"I, I . . ." Shepherd stuttered, "I do not have anything to do with the serum! I never dran—I never heard of it before!"

"Liar, liar! Mother told us not to lie, or we would get or mouths washed out with a bar of soap. That tasted quite rank, no? It took hours to cleanse our mouths of the taste it left behind, even with _water_. Should I do that to you now? Just with water of course, I am not that cruel." he lazily plucked a lavender sea turtle, fiddled with it, and tossed it back into the sea. "Why did you turn away Amy and Daniel away from your door, without a hint about the dangers they would face?"

"It was for the best!" Shepherd screamed directly at him, "They would hate me if they knew!"

"So you admit it, "Arthur purred, "You stole the final clues you needed and assembled the serum, for your own purposes. Did not even share with them, a pity. Did you know I was watching them the entire time? I sent that wave crashing against those antagonistic family members. Also, I have been watching you. Everything you have done I have witnessed. And now, I am coming for you."

He stepped toward Shepherd slowly, the ocean like concrete under his bare reptilian feet. "You can run, my dear older brother. But you cannot hide! I will always find you!

Shepherd stood like a mannequin in a clothing boutique for an only instant. Then he started running, running away, towards his cabin. Anywhere far from this monstrous sea crustacean that claimed to be his brother. As each of his sandaled feet thudded on the sand, he came closer to his safe point. And his ultimate place of decease. Slamming open the door and locking it several times, he panted wildly. That's when the drumming on the door began.

"Knock, knock, Shep!" the voice came through the cracks of the door, cheerfully. It seemed even more horrifying that way. The door suddenly exploded open, foreign white light danced into the room, sparks leaping advertising the gruesome face of his brother.

Shepherd Trent awoke with a jolt. His night clothes were soaked in cold sweat, dark hair dripping. His jade green eyes gaunt and hollow, looked feral like a hunted animal`s.

"It was all just a dream," he whispered hysterically to himself, "A bloody nightmare."

That's when the steady knocking of the door began.

"Anyone home?"

**A/N: Oh gods my dad is going to kill me if I am on this any longer. XD Review! :D**


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